1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to electrical connectors for mounting on a printed circuit board, and in particular to an electrical connector with a tine plate for receiving a plurality of tines of the connector.
2. Background Art
A “right angle header” type connector is conventionally known in the art for mounting to a printed circuit board. A right angle type connector typically comprises a plurality of tines in series having an inverted “L” shape, such that the plurality of tines generally extend horizontally from a back surface of a body or housing of the connector and bend at a right angle in a direction toward the printed circuit board. In the right angle type connector, some tines are longer than others, potentially reducing their strength. This affects alignment accuracy when mounting the connector to the printed circuit board, and the tines may be prone to deformation during transport. Accordingly, a reinforcing member, commonly referred to as a tine plate, is often used to ensure alignment accuracy and to prevent deformation of the tines. The tine plate has a plurality of through-holes for receiving the plurality of tines, thereby protecting the tines. The tine plate is typically secured by a locking mechanism provided on the connector body.
Some clearance between the tine plate and the connector housing is necessary to ensure functionality of the locking mechanism, taking into account design tolerances and so forth. Because of the clearance, however, even though the tine plate is held by the locking mechanism, the tine plate tends to vibrate and percussively contact the tines and/or the connector body. One drawback is that abnormal noise may emanate from the connector. To reduce or eliminate the noise, movement of the tine plate needs to be restricted in three dimensions.
Merely installing an additional locking mechanism undesirably increases complexity of the connector. By contrast, if there is no clearance in the locking mechanism, excessive interference between the connector body and the tine plate will cause the tine plate to be torsionally or laterally deformed. Accordingly, displacement between the through-holes of the tine plate and receiving holes of the print circuit board may occur. Such displacement can cause insertion failure, and defective soldering when mounting the connector to the printed circuit board, as well as solder cracking due to thermal expansion.